Kansas City Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez damaged the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, raising the possibility the 2015 World Series MVP may need Tommy John surgery and miss the season.Perez was hurt during a workout Wednesday, and the team said an MRI on Thursday revealed the damage. Perez will travel next week to California for a second opinion from Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache.The 28-year-old has been an All-Star for six straight seasons and won Gold Gloves in five of the last six years. He hit .235 last year and had 27 home runs and 80 RBIs for the second straight season. He has a $10 million salary this year and is owed $13 million in each of the following two seasons.Cam Gallagher and Meibrys Viloria are the other catchers on Kansas City's 40-man roster. Gallagher, who appeared in 35 games during the past two years, has a .218 career average with two home runs and 12 RBIs.Viloria, 22, was a September call-up last season and has... [More]

Kansas City Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez damaged the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, raising the possibility the 2015 World Series MVP may need Tommy John surgery and miss the season.Perez was hurt during a workout Wednesday, and the team said a MRI on Thursday revealed the damage. Perez will travel next week to California for a second opinion from Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache.The 28-year-old has been an All-Star for six straight seasons and won Gold Gloves in five of the last six years. He hit .235 last year and had 27 home runs and 80 RBIs for the second straight season. He has a $10 million salary this year and is owed $13 million in each of the following two seasons.Cam Gallagher and Meibrys Viloria are the other catchers on Kansas City's 40-man roster. Gallagher, who appeared in 35 games during the past two years, has a .218 career average with two home runs and 12 RBIs.Viloria, 22, was a September callup last season and has appeared... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have tried to match up Zack Greinke with the same catcher per the pitcher's request. On Monday, 24-year-old Carson Kelly got his first chance behind the plate in the ace's first spring training start.It was a good partnership. Greinke needed just 16 pitches — 14 strikes — to retire the Oakland Athletics in order over two innings."Get outs — that's kind of the big thing for him," Kelly said of Greinke. "He did that and he did it efficiently, too, without throwing a lot of pitches. I feel like that's Zack Greinke-esque."Jeff Mathis was Greinke's personal catcher last season but signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers. Kelly, acquired by Arizona from the St. Louis Cardinals in the trade for Paul Goldschmidt, caught Greinke during his last live batting practice session as a tuneup.Pitching on a back field and facing teammates, however, is different than a real game, even if it is an exhibition game."With the live BP, I was excited, very... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Carson Kelly and Luke Weaver will always been known as the other players in the Paul Goldschmidt trade. No matter what they do for the rest of their careers, good or bad, they will be linked to the Arizona Diamondbacks' fan-favorite first baseman.But the Diamondbacks do not consider them replacements for Goldschmidt.Goldschmidt was one of the best players in baseball during his eight seasons in Arizona, so matching his production would be difficult. Plus, Kelly is a catcher and Weaver a right-handed starting pitcher.The Diamondbacks just want them to be the best versions of themselves they can be."When they were traded over, those were the first conversations that I began to have with them about just being themselves, embracing the organization the way we're embracing them," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "We chose them for a reason: because they're very special players."Both are looking forward to a fresh start.For Kelly, the trade should mean an opportunity... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Catcher John Ryan Murphy and the Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a $900,000, one-year contract, a raise from his $558,000 salary last year.The 27-year-old set career bests with nine homers and 24 RBIs in 223 plate appearances, hitting .202. He split time behind the plate with Alex Avila and Jeff Mathis, who left for Texas.Ten Diamondbacks remain eligible for Friday's exchange of proposed arbitration salaries: outfielders David Peralta and Steven Souza; shortstop Nick Amed; third baseman Jake Lamb; right-handers Matt Andriese and Archie Bradley; and left-handers Andrew Chafin, T.J. McFarland and Robbie Ray.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired catcher Chris Stewart from the Atlanta Braves.Friday's move bolsters Arizona's catching depth and gives the team a fourth player at the position.The deal calls for the Braves to receive cash or a player to be named later.Stewart appeared in just five games for the Braves, all early in the season. He played in 47 games with Triple-A Gwinnett, batting .219 in 156 plate appearances. Atlanta acquired Rene Rivera from the Angels on Wednesday to serve as a backup catcher.Stewart joins catchers John Ryan Murphy, Jeff Mathis and Alex Avila."The more depth you have inside your system is going to give you maneuverability," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ATLANTA (AP) — Colorado snapped Ronald Acuna Jr.'s home run streak and Atlanta's five-game winning streak, rallying for three unearned runs in the ninth inning to beat the Braves 5-3 on Thursday night.David Dahl homered in the third and capped the winning rally with a two-out, two-run single off Brad Brach (1-3). The Rockies took advantage of an error by shortstop Danby Swanson leading off the ninth to win for the fifth time in six games.One night after being plunked in the left arm by Miami's Jose Urena, Acuna was back in the lineup looking to extend his homer streak to six games. Wearing a red protective guard, the 20-year-old slugger received a standing ovation his first time up and lined the second pitch — one more than he saw the previous game — into center field for a single, extending his hitting streak to nine games.That was the highlight of his night. Acuna finished 1 for 4, lining out to right in the eighth in his last chance to become the first player in Braves franchise history... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Colorado snapped Ronald Acuna Jr.'s home run streak and Atlanta's five-game winning streak, rallying for three unearned runs in the ninth inning to beat the Braves 5-3 on Thursday night.David Dahl homered in the third and capped the winning rally with a two-out, two-run single off Brad Brach (1-3). The Rockies took advantage of an error by shortstop Danby Swanson leading off the ninth to win for the fifth time in six games.One night after being plunked in the left arm by Miami's Jose Urena, Acuna was back in the lineup looking to extend his homer streak to six games. Wearing a red protective guard, the 20-year-old slugger received a standing ovation his first time up and lined the second pitch — one more than he saw the previous game — into center field for a single, extending his hitting streak to nine games.That was the highlight of his night. Acuna finished 1 for 4, lining out to right in the eighth in his last chance to become the first player in Braves franchise history... [More]

DENVER (AP) — To summon a recent reliever, Cubs manager Joe Maddon didn't even need to signal his bullpen. He just pointed toward his first baseman.Now pitching: Anthony Rizzo .That's no sort of curveball, either.In an increasing trend this season, position players are making more appearances on the mound to save wear and tear on the bullpen in games that have spiraled out of hand or as a last resort.Through Thursday, there have been 49 appearances by 39 non-pitchers (not counting two-way player Shohei Ohtani ). Both figures are major-league highs for the expansion era starting in 1961, according to the Elias Sports Bureau."It's just cool to be up there and get to do something that you don't get to do," said Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer, who was a closer and infielder at Oklahoma State but has never pitched in the majors despite his best lobbying efforts. "You have the ball in your hands nonstop."Rizzo pleaded for a while to get into a game. His chance arrived on July 23 with the Cubs... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized an $8.25 million, two-year contract with free agent catcher Alex Avila.Avila fills a roster spot vacated by Chris Iannetta, who shared the catching duties last year and left for an $8.5 million, two-year deal with Colorado.The 31-year-old Avila, a son of Detroit general manager Al Avila, hit .264 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. He is a .243 hitter in nine major league seasons.Avila gets $4 million this year and $4.25 million in 2019. He can earn an additional $250,000 annually in performance bonuses based on plate appearances: $25,000 each for 350 and 400, $50,000 apiece for 450 and 500 and $100,000 for 550Avila said the deal came together over the last two weeks."Essentially the first thing that popped into mind was how talented of a team they had," Avila said.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the Diamondbacks' catchers.Arizona opened... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized an $8.25 million, two-year contract with free agent catcher Alex Avila.Avila fills a roster spot vacated by Chris Iannetta, who shared the catching duties last year and left for an $8.5 million, two-year deal with Colorado.The 31-year-old Avila, a son of Detroit general manager Al Avila, hit .264 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. He is a .243 hitter in nine major league seasons.Avila, speaking in a conference call Wednesday evening, said the deal came together over the last two weeks, and he likes the makeup of the team he is joining."Essentially the first thing that popped into mind was how talented of a team they had," Avila said.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the Diamondbacks' catchers.Arizona opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Rey Fuentes for assignment Wednesday.Avila said he has no problem sharing the catching duties."It... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized an $8.25 million, two-year contract with free agent catcher Alex Avila.Avila fills a roster spot vacated by Chris Iannetta, who shared the catching duties last year and left for an $8.5 million, two-year deal with Colorado.The 31-year-old Avila, a son of Detroit general manager Al Avila, hit .264 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. He is a .243 hitter in nine major league seasons.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the Diamondbacks' catchers.Arizona opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Rey Fuentes for assignment on Wednesday.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

PHOENIX (AP) — A person with knowledge of the agreement says catcher Alex Avila has signed a two-year, $8.25 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.The person asked to remain anonymous because the signing has not been officially announced by the team.The 31-year-old Avila fills a roster spot vacated by catcher Chris Iannetta, who signed with Colorado after spending last season sharing the Arizona catching duties.Last season, Avila hit .264 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs with the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs. He is a career .243 hitter in nine major league seasons and is the son of Tigers general manager Al Avila.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the team's catchers going into spring training.

C Alex Avila was 1-for-4 and struck out his first two times at the plate. But that one hit -- one of just three for Chicago -- was a broken-bat triple down the right-field line in the ninth that drove in the game's only run. It came off of Pittsburgh reliever Daniel Hudson. "When there's guys on base, especially in a game like today, where your opportunities are limited, you try to take advantage of the pitch that you can handle a little more. He left that changeup up, and I was able to put a good swing on it," Avila said.

DETROIT -- Justin Verlander allowed just two hits in eight innings, and Justin Upton smacked a two-run home run to cap a four-run sixth that helped the Detroit Tigers end the Los Angeles Dodgers' six-game winning streak with a 6-1 victory on Sunday.Verlander (9-8) enabled the Tigers to end their six-game losing streak.Dodgers newcomer Curtis Granderson broke up Verlander's no-hit bid with two outs in the sixth inning when he lined a down-and-in 2-2 slider off the foul pole in right field for his 20th home run, which was his first homer with Los Angeles.Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda (11-5) lost his perfect game bid when John Hicks led off the sixth with a line single to left center, and before the inning ended, Detroit scored four for a 4-1 lead.Pirates 6, Cardinals 3WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Pittsburgh rookie first baseman Josh Bell put on a power display for all the Little League players, their families and coaches in the stands.Bell belted a towering two-run homer in the first inning and added... [More]

C Alex Avila, who joined the Cubs from Detroit at the trade deadline, drove in two runs with a single to cap a three-run rally in the 10th and lead Chicago over Toronto 6-5. Avila came through after the Blue Jays had taken a 5-3 lead in the top of the inning, and has 10 RBIs in 34 at-bats with the Cubs. "Everybody has been very welcoming," Avila said. "I feel like I've been here all year."

C Alex Avila (2-for-4) doubled, homered and had three RBIs, including a run-scoring double in the fifth inning to complete a nine-run Cubs comeback. Three of his six hits with Chicago are home runs.

C Alex Avila, who bats left-handed, was in the lineup Saturday against Arizona LHP Patrick Corbin, in part because manager Joe Maddon wanted to give Cubs LHP Jon Lester an experienced catcher to throw to. With Willson Contreras (hamstring) on the disabled list the only other catcher on the roster is the just-recalled Victor Caratini. Cubs RHP John Lackey liked how he worked Friday night with Avila, the former Detroit Tigers catcher picked up at the July 31 trade deadline. "Having Alex is a huge deal for us. He's a veteran guy who's been through these situations before," Lackey said. "He's going to be able to fit right in there. ... He calls a pretty good game." Maddon was happy with how Avila and LHP Jon Lester worked together, despite the Cubs' 6-2 loss.

C Alex Avila belted a two-run homer Saturday for his first hit as a Cub. He was 0-for-2 before the home run. The Cubs acquired Avila from the Detroit Tigers on Monday. It was his 12th home run overall this season. Avila also caught RHP John Lackey for the first time.

C Alex Avila went 0-for-2 as he made his Wrigley Field debut behind the plate for the Cubs. It was his first game since arriving in a trade along with LHP Justin Wilson from the Detroit Tigers.